Brazil’s central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged Wednesday and maybe open the door for new hikes down the road as the country leaves behind a tough presidential election and turns its focus back to a disquieting economic picture.

The bank’s monetary-policy committee, or COPOM, starts on Tuesday its two-day policy meeting. Read More »

Brazil’s presidential election will likely keep on rocking the market’s boat as voters choose between a leftist and a conservative candidate, but investors could be overreacting.

Aversion to leftist President Dilma Rousseff is exaggerated, some observers say, noting that she may be forced to shift gears in a possible second term given the dire straits of the economy and the risk of a credit-rating downgrade.

Brazilians face many options in the Oct. 5 vote, but for economists and investors the options are clear: It is reform or die.

Latin America’s largest economy has weakened in the past four years and now growth is near zero, inflation is high and business confidence is depressed. Central-bank interventions keep the currency from a free fall. Read More »

Between an economic slump and diehard inflation, the Brazilian central bank is likely to stay put this week, according to forecasters.

Sixteen economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal said they expect the central bank’s benchmark short-term interest rate, the Selic, to remain unchanged at 11% when the bank’s directors end their two-day meeting late Wednesday. Read More »

The man who once said a little inflation for Brazil is akin to a little sip to a recovering alcoholic is worried consumer prices may already be getting out of control.

“Our neighbors were victims of the same vice,” former central-bank President Gustavo Franco said Monday in an exclusive telephone interview, referring to Argentina and Venezuela, where inflation is well into the double digits.

Mr. Franco’s comments were made just days ahead of a monetary-policy meeting at which Brazil’s central bank is widely expected to halt its inflation battle. Read More »

A combination of weak industrial production, tepid investment and low consumer and business confidence in Brazil likely prompted a poor first-quarter performance for Latin America’s largest economy, according to analysts.

A survey of 12 economists produced a median forecast of 2% year-on-year economic expansion in the quarter and expansion of just 0.2% from the fourth quarter.

By comparison, in the fourth quarter of 2013 Brazil’s gross domestic product expanded 1.9% year-on-year and 0.7% from with the third quarter of 2013. Read More »

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